When customers place an order, they expect speed, accuracy, and reliability. Behind the scenes, inventory-to-deliver processes are what makes that promise possible, helping to ensure the right products are available at the right time to meet customer expectations while controlling costs. For operational professionals, inventory isn’t just a number on a spreadsheet, it’s the lifeline of the supply chain. It determines whether you can fulfill demand without delays, avoid costly stockouts, and keep working capital flowing. From procurement and production to fulfillment and customer satisfaction, inventory-to-deliver impacts every aspect of the supply chain.

In today’s fast-paced market, poor inventory visibility can lead to stockouts, excess holding costs, and missed revenue opportunities. Conversely, a well-orchestrated inventory strategy drives efficiency, reduces waste, and strengthens resilience against disruptions. It enables businesses to optimize working capital, improve cash flow, and deliver on promises consistently. So, how can an agent-ready enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform reinvent the inventory-to-deliver process?

Microsoft Cloud and agent platform enables inventory to deliver transformation

Microsoft Dynamics 365 can transform inventory management from a reactive task into a strategic advantage with an agent-ready foundation that spans across finance, supply chain, sales, and operations for a single source of truth that is both scalable and secure.

This same data foundation enables customers to buy, build, and customize agents to infuse across processes. For a refresher on understanding the agent landscape available today, visit Reinventing business process with AI: Agents in record to report where we explore the difference between first party, third party, and custom agents.

Automate vendor communication with a first party agent from Dynamics 365

The Supplier Communications Agent in Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management is designed to automate routine procurement communications between purchasing teams and vendors. Traditionally, these interactions—such as following up on purchase orders or confirming changes—are manual, repetitive, and often handled via email, even in organizations using electronic data interchange (EDI). The Supplier Communications Agent can streamline these low-complexity tasks by automating vendor outreach and updates, freeing procurement professionals to focus on strategic activities. This not only seeks to improve efficiency but also reduces overall procurement costs by minimizing time spent on administrative work.

Explore partner agents to support the inventory to deliver process

Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers are configurable bridges between the business data within your line-of-business apps and the partner or custom-built agents you want to use. MCP serves as a universal intermediary, unlocking access to a unified platform and app data, modernizing how AI agents are interoperable with your apps. Let’s explore a few partner-built agents that will help you realize value across your supply chain today.

Warehouse Advisor Agent by MCA Connect

The Warehouse Advisor Agent leverages machine learning and predictive analytics to automate and improve key processes such as slotting, inventory consolidation, and cycle counting. By analyzing real-time data and historical trends, the agent delivers actionable insights that help warehouse teams make smarter, faster decisions.

This solution is ideal for warehouse managers, operations leaders, and supply chain professionals in distribution and manufacturing industries who are looking to reduce inefficiencies, improve inventory accuracy, and increase labor productivity. It integrates seamlessly with Dynamics 365’s Warehouse Management System (WMS), enabling users to deploy intelligent automation without disrupting existing workflows.

Inventory Acquisition and Re‑Balancing Agent from RSM

The Inventory Acquisition and Re‑Balancing Agent from RSM enables smarter inventory decisions by analyzing demand signals, supply availability, and stock imbalances in Dynamics 365. The agent can recommend rebalancing and acquisition actions to reduce stockouts, minimize excess inventory, and improve working capital efficiency.

Inbound Load Agent from Fellowmind

Fellowmind’s Inbound Load Agent can streamline inbound logistics by intelligently composing and optimizing loads based on demand, capacity, and operational constraints within Dynamics 365. The agent seeks to help logistics teams reduce transportation costs, improve warehouse utilization, and simplify complex inbound planning decisions.

Get started with agents for inventory-to-deliver processes

The Microsoft platform brings together secure, scalable cloud services with Dynamics 365’s unified ERP capabilities to streamline the entire inventory-to-delivery process. By leveraging real-time data and intelligent workflows, businesses gain supply chain agility to better meet customer expectations with precision. Partner-built agents, powered by MCP, amplify this value, enabling autonomous actions and predictive insights that transform operations from reactive to proactive. Together, these innovations create a resilient, future-ready foundation for delivering efficiency and growth at scale.

The post Agentic AI for inventory to deliver: From procurement to fulfillment appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

Tariffs change at lightning speed, threatening profits and forecasts. But for companies that stay ahead, volatility can become an edge—unlocking smarter sourcing decisions and resilience competitors can’t match. The 4,400-page Harmonized Tariff Schedule alone changes dozens of times a year.¹ One week, your steel imports have a 15% tariff. The next week? Maybe 25%. Or maybe zero if a new trade agreement sneaks through.

Every shift in the 4,400-page Harmonized Tariff Schedule puts supply chains at risk. A single misclassification can mean six-figure fines, delayed shipments, or missed revenue targets. Compliance teams burn endless hours chasing updates, while procurement and operations scramble to adjust forecasts and supplier contracts. And despite all that effort, if there is an unexpected policy change, most companies pay the price in lost time, money, and customer trust. The reality is that no human team can easily keep pace with this level of volatility and should instead look to agents and AI to help reduce the busy work and stay ahead of disruptions.

Tariffs are a textbook example of where agents have the potential to excel. No team can realistically monitor 4,400 pages of classifications that shift as chaotically as they do today. Agents take on the repetitive monitoring and data tracking that overwhelm even the best compliance team. When these kinds of tasks are handled by agents, leaders and teams can focus on decisions that move business forward. Microsoft offers multiple ways to make that real, whether you want to start small or transform your entire approach to tariff intelligence.

The Microsoft advantage: 3 ways to build tariff intelligence

Microsoft offers three distinct paths for tackling tariff changes, whether you’re ready for a complete transformation or need to start small and scale up.

1. Use first-party agents in Dynamics 365

Dynamics 365 offers a built-in supplier communication agent that automatically researches supplier information and generates outreach so you can quickly navigate tariff changes and supply chain disruptions. It pulls data from your procurement history, current inventory levels, and supplier performance metrics to identify suppliers that can answer questions about capacity, lead times, and alternative shipping routes.

When tariff changes threaten your delivery schedules, you can quickly compose communications that include relevant data from multiple systems. You no longer need to hunt through spreadsheets to find supplier contact information or manually request alternative sourcing options.

2. Build custom agents in Copilot Studio

With Copilot Studio, you can build custom agents that can calculate the impact of tariff changes on your products and contracts when asked, surface sourcing alternatives, and flag agreements that may need renegotiation.

These agents can connect to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule and Outlook as knowledge sources, and monitor supplier communications for mentions of tariffs, delivery delays, or capacity constraints. Document scanning capabilities mean contracts, shipping manifests, and regulatory updates become searchable, contextual data that informs agent recommendations. Behind the scenes, Microsoft Dataverse maintains data integrity and security with its unified structure and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). You can deploy quickly without sacrificing governance.

These agents can also connect with your Dynamics 365 and other enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, whether that’s SAP, Oracle, or another platform, alongside your product data, supplier information, and procurement contracts through the Model Context Protocol (MCP).

MCP is an open standard that enhances the relevance of agent responses. It facilitates the connection of AI agents to various data systems and standardizes how applications provide context to large language models (LLMs). With integration between LLM applications and external data sources, the protocol is useful for building AI-powered tools and workflows like customized tariff agents.

Security and compliance controls are built into the platform, so you can deploy agents rapidly while maintaining governance over what data they can access and what actions they can take. Want an agent that can read tariff schedules but not modify procurement contracts? Copilot Studio makes those boundaries clear and enforceable.

3. Explore partner solutions through the agent ecosystem

Microsoft’s partner ecosystem extends your capabilities with specialized agents tailored for industry-specific needs. Partners like Avanade are already building tariff and trade solutions that plug directly into Dynamics 365, so you can scale faster with proven expertise.

Avanade’s Tariff Navigator provides a single, intelligent agent experience to assess tariff exposure, model “what-if” scenarios, and proactively adjust purchasing, sourcing, and pricing decisions. The cost of inaction is steep and includes margin erosion, unexpected cost spikes, and reactive decisions that weaken competitiveness. And trying to tackle these challenges alone often leads to fragmented efforts and limited impact. Avanade is a trusted advisor with deep technical expertise and experienced industry specialists. Its consultative approach means Tariff Navigator is built around your people, tailored to how they work and the unique business challenges they face.

Using Microsoft’s low-code technologies, Avanade also allows for fast deployment of customized approaches that integrate with your existing systems and empower your teams to act quickly. The result is a practical, business-first application designed for measurable impact.

The Tariff Navigator solution by Avanade doesn’t just manage tariffs—it strengthens your organization’s ability to compete in a volatile global market. It’s about protecting profitability today while building the agility to seize opportunities tomorrow.

Beyond tariffs: Building resilience for what’s next

Tariff management offers you the opportunity to reimagine how supply chain operations handle complexity and uncertainty. The same agent architecture that helps you navigate trade policy changes can tackle other operational challenges, such as supply chain disruptions and vendor performance monitoring.

Agents you build in Copilot Studio or access from Microsoft Marketplace and the partner ecosystem have the potential to help organizations prepare trade agreements, navigate natural disasters, accidents, and other events that reshape supply chains temporarily or permanently. From a Suez Canal blockage to a geopolitical shift that reroutes global trade overnight, agents help you adapt fast.

Ready to take on changing tariffs?

Tariff volatility isn’t slowing down, and the next policy shift could hit tomorrow. The question is whether to react after the fact or build resilience now to better navigate future disruptions. Microsoft empowers customers to get started today, with custom or prebuilt agent options, depending on your needs. Dynamics 365 gives you the intelligent foundation and embedded supplier communications features. Copilot Studio lets customers build custom agents that track schedules, calculate impacts, and surface risks. Or you can use our partner solutions, like Avanade, to extend and customize agents. Either path puts AI agents to work for you, protecting margins, safeguarding compliance, and addressing volatility before it disrupts your supply chain.

Next steps

• Explore updates from the Copilot Studio and Power Platform teams to learn about Power Platform Community Conference 2025.
• Visit Avanade Tariff Navigator.
• Visit Dynamics 365 ERP solution page.
• Watch part 1 and part 2 of the day-in-the-life of a procurement manager videos on YouTube

¹Harmonized Tariff Schedule, United States International Trade Commission.

The post 3 ways to navigate changing tariffs with AI agents appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

Global retailers, manufacturers, and distributors continue to face the new normal of doing business today: economic volatility, unpredictable customer spending, and operational complexities. As we gear up for the holiday season, businesses that are agile and responsive will be poised to capture market demand and deliver an exceptional end-to-end customer experience. Adopting modern technology solutions can introduce agility to key processes overnight, and leaders should look across their supply chain functions to identify levers for maximum impact.

Supply chain technology leaders recognize that competitiveness—and in some cases, an organization’s survival—demands digital parity, if not leadership, so they now openly embrace exploratory IT investments.¹

One of those levers is warehouse management, a market that IDC reports grew at a compound annual rate of 14 percent in 2023.² By embracing modern, robotic, and AI-enhanced warehouse management solutions (WMS), organizations can drive meaningful results across the business in a relatively quick time-to-value.

In this post, we’ll explore why warehouse management solutions are needed and how Microsoft and Dynamics 365 enable customers to navigate ongoing disruptions, optimize inventory levels, and deliver on time with ease.

Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management

Build a resilient supply chain

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Navigate supply chain uncertainties with technology

While the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic are behind us, retailers and operators are still navigating the new normal, which includes:

• Growing labor constraints.
• Demand volatility.
• Multichannel distribution.
• Storage capacity challenges.
• Permeation of AI into core processes.

In the face of these challenges, there is an opportunity for businesses to embrace uncertainties with technology and maximize levers like distribution capacity, improved employee and warehouse productivity, and consistent operations during volatile times. Legacy enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are often disjointed and lead to a delay in real-time insights and optimization.

What is a modern WMS?

A modern warehouse management system helps businesses manage and optimize key warehouse operations like inventory tracking and shipping coordination through an open and composable framework. It can integrate with multiple systems and platforms and helps support end-to-end business processes, from ERP to customer relationship management. For businesses that want to stay competitive in an ever-expanding fulfillment economy, a modern WMS meets those challenges with an agile, digitally connected solution that reduces costs through maximizing resources like employees, machinery and storage.²

Modern warehouse management solutions can help improve real-time visibility into inventory levels, provide the ability to automate and streamline operations, and drive greater efficiency across the organization.

Adopting a modern WMS can contribute to these outputs:

• Reduced costs through improved inventory turns and optimized storage space.
• Improved customer satisfaction via on-time and in-full delivery and improved fill rates.
• Business growth and agility to meet unexpected customer demand and product development.
• Automation and enhanced productivity to free up your employees’ time to focus on what’s next.

The benefits of a modern WMS

1. Reduced costs

Golden State Foods (GSF) is an industry leader that produces liquid products like sauces, dressings, and condiments for customers like McDonald’s and Chick-fil-A. With a 25 year-old legacy ERP system, GSF chose Dynamics 365 ERP solution’s Supply Chain Management and Finance to help create a modern, common platform with centralized reporting and more standardized processes to facilitate opening a new plant.

“We chose Dynamics 365 because we need modern technology that will evolve with us.”

–Carol Fawcett: Corporate Vice President and Chief Information Officer, GSF

With Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management, GSF’s warehouse management processes were completely modernized. Dynamics 365 is being used to receive, put away, and consume inventory for production; report inventory as finished; store it in finished goods warehouses; and select it for shipment for customer orders. It prints standard barcode labels that are used at customers’ distribution centers for fast and accurate traceability—a considerable improvement from previous processes. This end-to-end visibility helps GSF operations managers improve inventory turns and make better decisions about production restraints and forecasting. With improved forecasting, GSF can reduce waste, optimize inventory, and increase its efficiency across its plants.

2. Improved customer satisfaction

Bedrosians Tile & Stone is one of the largest porcelain tile and stone importers and distributors in the United States, with 40 retail locations worldwide. It’s 30 year-old legacy ERP system impacted demand planning and forecasting, which was critical for Bedrosians’ massive 10,000-item inventory. Without accurate demand planning and forecasting, Bedrosians was reactive and vulnerable to market whims.

Like many retailers, Bedrosians saw customer demand skyrocket during the COVID-19 pandemic. Annual spending on home improvements grew, but without accurate demand forecasting, Bedrosians struggled to find that “just right” inventory on hand formula, often finding itself understocked or overstocked. With lead times as long as six months or more, the need to have accurate inventory levels—and visibility into them—couldn’t be more important.

Bedrosians’ legacy ERP impacted its ability to optimize inventory placement and as such, the company was at risk of promising products they couldn’t deliver or losing sales opportunities while inventory was in transit. Bedrosians chose Dynamics 365 ERP solutions to help optimize financial, inventory, purchasing, and planning capabilities to better streamline the movement of their globally sourced inventory. What used to be a manual guessing game has turned into an automated, scientific forecast based on historical data and industry trends. This ensures Bedrosians can capitalize on sales opportunities, despite months-long lead times, and deliver an on-time and in-full customer experience.

“Implementing Dynamics 365 has been a game-changer for our business. It has improved our operation and financial management. Real-time visibility, optimized procurement, and streamlined order processing has resulted in increased sales, improved margins, and a more efficient supply chain and positioned us for sustained growth in a competitive market.”

–Nirbhay Gupta: CIO, Bedrosians Tile & Stone

3. Business growth and agility

Barnas Hus is Norway’s leading children and baby products retailer, with both e-commerce and 28 physical stores. Working with a Microsoft partner, KPMG, Barnas Hus set out to face its supply chain challenges that were hindering its business growth, such as lack of visibility and inconsistent accuracy in its legacy ERP system. Barnas Hus embraced a modern, cloud-powered platform enabled by Dynamics 365. This technology-focused improvement helped the company transform its warehouse management, inventory control, production planning, and more—setting Barnas Hus up to meet growing customer demand.

Once they had made the shift, Barnas Hus opened a new state-of-the-art warehouse that utilizes autonomous robotics to accurately pick, sustainably pack, and trace every product. The modern warehouse management system improved inventory visibility and freed up employees to spend time with customers. The best part? The ease of implementation led to a quick time to demonstrate value and Barnas Hus saw its biggest month ever in revenue.

See how Barnas Hus embraced robotics with KPMG and Dynamics 365.

4. Automation and enhanced productivity

Michael Hill is a leading jeweler based in Australia with operations in New Zealand, Canada, and the United States. When the pandemic hit, its 300 stores were facing temporary closures and the company confronted logistic complications that forced expensive, indirect, and inefficient shipments to its customers worldwide. Michael Hill’s legacy ERP system was inflexible and lacked visibility and accuracy.

The international jeweler moved quickly to avoid harm to its business and its brand. It rapidly deployed Dynamics 365 and almost immediately began providing increased visibility into inventory availability across its supply chain. This gave Michael Hill the ability to treat each of its stores as a warehouse location, which seamlessly allowed customers to order items online with the option to pick up at the site of their choice or ship direct from that location. It also vastly reduced the manual labor previously required from Michael Hill employees to ensure fulfillment.

“We use the ship-from-store capability in Dynamics 365 to fulfill demand from many locations, rather than requiring human intervention whenever stock is transferred. That helps us reduce how many hops it takes to put a piece into the hands of the customers, and that’s our end game—a better experience.”

–Matt Keays: Chief Information Officer, Michael Hill

By implementing Dynamics 365 as its warehouse management system, Michael Hill was able to deliver agile flow solutions that freed up its employees to focus on more strategic initiatives such as loyalty programs and trialing new fulfillment models.

Learn more about Dynamics 365 solutions

To compete and thrive in market conditions today, organizations should look to adopt modern warehouse management solutions to better prepare for uncertainty, increased demand, and disruptive conditions. While legacy ERP systems are complex, Microsoft partners and Dynamics 365 solutions provide quick time-to-value and provide the agility and automation required for growth.

Explore a free guided tour of Dynamics 365 Intelligent Order Management.

Learn more about Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management.

Footnotes

¹Gartner SC 2023 Hype Cycle for Supply Chain Execution Technologies, 2023.

GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, and HYPE CYCLE is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved. 

²Source: IDC TechBrief, Warehouse Execution Systems, Document number:# US51050623, August 2023.

The post 4 benefits of modern warehouse management solutions appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

Achieving supply chain excellence today requires orchestrating complex global operations with agility, adapting to rapid and continuous change, and navigating economic headwinds and ongoing disruptions. Yet only 22 percent of companies have a proactive supply chain network, meaning disruptions or shifts in supply or demand can quickly escalate into significant issues.¹ To truly deliver a proactive, resilient supply chain, Chief Supply Chain Officers (CSCOs) need a clear digital transformation strategy that builds on top of existing investments in data to uncover new insights. At the same time, CSCOs must enable the adoption of new productivity tools, such as generative AI, to help organizations rethink the status quo.  

At Microsoft, we recently introduced Microsoft Dynamics 365 Copilot to bring next-generation AI to every line of business. It can help CSCOs solidify the strategic importance of supply chain functions and its value as strategic business partners. That’s why on May 8 through 10 in Orlando, Florida, at the Gartner Supply Chain Symposium Xpo™ 2023, we’re presenting a deep dive into the practical ways organizations can unlock supply chain productivity with a copilot approach to AI.  

Microsoft Supply Chain Center

Sign up for a free trial of Microsoft Supply Chain Center.

Get a free trial

Attendees can also join us at our booth (#443), where we will highlight how supply chain leaders can utilize Microsoft Dynamics 365 to: 

• Embrace AI-enabled risk mitigation to deliver better business outcomes while improving customer and employee experiences. 
• Generate intelligent insights and rapidly act on recommendations with Microsoft Supply Chain Center. 
• Gain agility and deliver world-class fulfillment experiences like accurate available-to-promise (ATP) and direct store delivery (DSD) for direct-to-consumer (DTC) orders. 

Generate intelligent insights

At the Gartner Supply Chain Symposium, attendees will see how the Microsoft Supply Chain Center empowers supply chain professionals to use AI copilots to generate actionable insights to increase productivity, shorten lead times, and improve overall supply chain performance.  

The Microsoft Supply Chain Platform harmonizes data across legacy and new enterprise resource planning (ERP) and supply chain systems to provide real-time data visibility; facilitate actionable insights; predict supply shortages, potential stockouts, or shipment delays; and improve collaboration across teams and suppliers. The end-to-end visibility possible using Copilot in the Microsoft Supply Chain Center allows leaders to proactively manage supply chain events. 

Customers like iFit have leveraged the intelligent insights from Supply Chain Center to reimagine their distribution network, staging products in locations based on customer demand instead of relying on history. In doing so, iFit increased its efficiency from 30 percent to 75 percent in its forward stocking. Before Supply Chain Center, iFit took two weeks to fulfill customer demand far more than the desired two days. 

Embrace AI-enabled risk mitigation

For most supply chains, particularly those crossing international borders and using multiple transportation modes, disruptions that risk diminishing the customer experience occur regularly. Such disruptions place immense pressure on operation teams to assess the situation, coordinate with various stakeholders, and maintain production momentum. Even simple delays, such as bad weather requiring load rerouting, can cause disruptions with ripple effects of up to two weeks and effecting multiple tiers. Production planners may lack integrated systems, resulting in limited visibility of inbound shipment issues until they experience a delay. At that point, planners contact suppliers and may discover factors, such as weather, causing a two-week production delay. 

The planner now has no choice but to push delivery of sales orders out two weeks, giving the sales team and customers little time to pivot and find solutions. The planner may also spend half a day or more manually evaluating purchase orders to understand the impact on operations. Not to mention any time required to adjust production schedules to accommodate the supplier’s updated delivery windows. 

Using Dynamics 365 Copilot to integrate supply chain data and provide critical insights, the planner in the scenario above would receive a real-time alert about weather issues at the supplier’s location. The system would also generate an email listing all purchase orders affected by the production delay, reducing the planner’s workload from hours to minutes. 

Copilot can also send the planner a list of suggestions that could minimize the impact of the disruptions. Now the planner has time to evaluate alternatives to meet delivery requirements and reschedule production jobs. The result is proactive management of the event, increased agility within the supply chain, shorter recovery times, and, most importantly, mitigating the customer impact in a way that preserves customer relationships and bolsters customer satisfaction. 

The above is one practical application of Copilot, but there is considerably more to share. In our recent blog, Applying next-generation AI to the Microsoft Supply Chain Platform, you can take a deeper dive into how Dynamics 365 Copilot is transforming laborious processes, improving efficiency and responsiveness, and enabling enterprise supply chains to optimize operational agility, reduce cost, and improve customer experiences.

Gain agility and deliver world-class fulfillment experiences

Northern Tool + Equipment, a manufacturing and omnichannel retailer with more than 130 stores across the United States, serves a customer base that heavily relies on their tools for their livelihood. Accurate delivery times and product reliability are of the utmost importance. However, Northern Tool + Equipment faced significant challenges due to a fragmented supply chain technology infrastructure, resulting in four to seven days lead times for their extensive product catalog of 100,000 items. This, combined with the complexities of shipping large items like generators and air compressors, made optimizing shipping routes for cost and sustainability difficult. 

To overcome these challenges, Northern Tool + Equipment implemented Microsoft Supply Chain Center, an end-to-end supply chain solution that connects disparate systems and harmonizes data across the supply chain. This solution provides a comprehensive understanding of supply and demand, generating insights using AI to uncover patterns and projections based on historical and real-time inventory and order volumes. 

Direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands like Northern Tool + Equipment face unique challenges in delivering world-class fulfillment experiences to their customers. With an emphasis on speed, accuracy, and reliability, these brands require agile supply chain solutions that can adapt to continuous change and increasing technology clock speed. Microsoft Supply Chain Center enables DTC brands like Northern Tool + Equipment to gain agility and deliver outstanding customer experiences by offering real-time, highly accurate, available-to-promise (ATP) dates for direct store delivery (DSD) and more. 

Learn more about Northern Tool + Equipment’s success in our recent case study.  

See you at Gartner Supply Chain Symposium Xpo™ 2023 

As global supply chains continue reimagining what is possible by applying emerging technologies like AI and Copilot, Microsoft remains dedicated to enabling CSCOs with the solutions and timely insights they need to excel. We hope you can join us at the Gartner Supply Chain Symposium Xpo™ 2023, where you can attend our session using the registration link and engage with our supply chain professionals at our booth. In the meantime, we invite you to check out our guided tour of Dynamics 365 Intelligent Order Management or reach out to learn more today.  

Practical ways to copilot with AI and unlock productivity 

Location: Northern Hemisphere C, Booth 443 

Date and time: May 9, 2023, 11:30 AM EST  

Register: Gartner Supply Chain Symposium Xpo™ 2023 

End notes

¹Zippia, 2022. 18 Stunning supply chain statistics [2023]: facts, figures, and trends.

The post Microsoft Dynamics 365 Copilot at Gartner Supply Chain Symposium Xpo™ 2023 appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

There’s no doubt about it: technology has revolutionized how we do business. But the same technologies that allow consumer goods brands to reach customers worldwide have created an environment in which change happens fast and continually, competition is fiercer than ever before, and even incremental adjustments in strategy can significantly impact a company’s profitability and growth. At the same time, the past two years’ events have laid bare how companies of all sizes are vulnerable to global, social, political, and economic disruptions. With so much change it can be difficult to understand what trends are worth the investment, which is why we’ve taken a data-driven approach to cut through the noise. Four key trends are highlighted below and a more in-depth look can be read in the Consumer Goods Trends in 2022 report by Microsoft Dynamics 365 Commerce.

1. Social commerce makes every online touchpoint a potential storefront

Social media has revolutionized how people connect and is now transforming the way consumers discover and engage with brands. One clear example is social commerce, which is an integrated and seamless strategy for allowing customers to discover, browse, share, and purchase without ever leaving a social media platform. Now brands are opening significant new revenue streams by delivering seamless purchasing experiences to consumers on the social media platform of their choice. The results are staggering, with the value of social commerce sales worldwide in 2021 hitting an estimated $732 billion and projected to grow to $2.9 trillion by 2026.¹

Unsurprisingly, social commerce, or live commerce according Gartner® Hype Cycle™  for Retail Technologies, 2021, “can increase brand awareness and generate a large amount of traffic in a short time.”² One country that is leading the live commerce trend is China.

Dynamics 365 Commerce can help organizations consistently deliver great customer experiences on any social channel or front-end application. This is because Dynamics 365 Commerce can utilize both headless and other modern commerce architectures to seamlessly connect enterprise systems, such as payment processing, content management, and omnichannel inventory.

2. Digital shelf analytics improve online merchandising

In 2021, US merchants recorded a record $870.8 billion in online sales, an increase of 14.2 percent compared to the year prior.³ As online sales continue to increase in volume and importance, brands will need to collect, measure, and monitor product and sales data from a growing variety of sources. One way brands can stay on top of this information is by using digital shelf analytics (DSA) to improve online merchandising.

DSA applications give retailers the ability to monitor data and metrics from all their digital sales channels, including retail digital commerce sites and online marketplaces. DSA solutions may often provide product data from social sites and collect competitive pricing data. These applications use API connections and automated website scraping to ingest data on metrics such as ratings and reviews, product availability and placement, search rankings, and product information content quality, alerting users to updated content.

Another technology related to DSA is the Smart Shelf. According to Gartner, “Smart shelf refers to the connected shelf in a physical retail store, which can include computer vision, weight or other sensors, electronic shelf labels (ESL) or LCD displays.” Gartner classifies the technology as “emerging” with a “high” benefit rating,² which we believe makes it a technology to watch in the near future.

Dynamics 365 Commerce offers retailers robust DSA capabilities, including a unified view of content, assets, promotions, inventory, and pricing across physical and digital channels.

3. Immersive commerce helps retailers combat the rising cost of returns

One technology trend helping companies improve how they interact with consumers is immersive commerce (IC). IC reinvents customer experiences by integrating physical and virtual worlds via augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality. With IC, brands can give customers a new way of visualizing a product in their space, such as seeing the way a Microsoft Surface Laptop looks on a desk in a home office or how different shades of makeup look before ordering online. Experts believe that AR-enabled shopping will soon become a must-have for furniture retailers. Home Depot, Wayfair, Target, Overstock, and Houzz have already adopted the technology.⁴ Significantly though, IC goes beyond improving and augmenting the customer experience. It also presents opportunities to solve costly inefficiencies, the most obvious and expensive being returns.

The growth in e-commerce and virtual shopping that accompanied the pandemic led to a corresponding increase in returns. In 2020, total return losses, including the value of lost sales, reached $428 billion, with an estimated $101 billion purely from returns.⁵ The loss from returns is expected to increase in the next several years, eventually reaching $1 trillion annually. According to Gartner, “Size and ‘best fit’ recommendations using AR can drastically reduce return rates and improve conversion.”² We agree and believe that in the face of growing losses from returns, brands will likely increase their investments in AR because of its ability to help consumers avoid returns altogether. For example, by allowing customers to see how furniture will look in their house or how clothes will look in a virtual fitting room, they are more likely to purchase the product they need and will enjoy.

Add AR, VR, and mixed reality capabilities to your digital storefronts using apps available in Microsoft AppSource, like Web AR with D365 Commerce from Hexaware Technologies.

4. Supply chain resilience is more crucial than ever

The events of 2020 unleashed a series of disruptions to global supply chains, such as border closures, stay-at-home orders, severely depressed demand in industries like travel and in-person services, and demand booms in others, such as healthcare equipment and operating supplies. The cost of these disruptions is significant: in a study conducted by Deloitte, 32 percent of chief financial officers (CFOs) said that shortages and delays were responsible for depressed sales, and 44 percent said that their costs have increased by 5 percent or more this year as a result.⁶

For retailers and consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands, a primary beneficiary of supply chain resilience is the consumer, who will switch retailers if an item is out of stock and expects to be able to order from any channel with fast and convenient delivery to anywhere. This means that retailers need technology solutions that enable omnichannel retail and fulfillment while also ensuring inventory availability.

Interested in learning more about live commerce or digital shelf analytics? Need to cut through market hype to prioritize your retail technology investments? Download Gartner Hype Cycle for Retail Technologies, 2021.

What’s next?

These are just a few trends that you can find inside our report on Consumer Goods Trends in 2022. In the full report, you’ll find relevant and impactful insights drawn from extensive research curated by industry professionals, subject matter experts, and thought leaders. Download your copy of the Consumer Goods Trends in 2022 report. And, be sure to register for the corresponding webinar on Top Retail Trends which you can attend live on Wednesday, May 4, 2022, 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM Pacific Time or watch afterward on-demand.

Sources:

1- Statista, 2021, Value of social commerce sales worldwide from 2020 to 2026

2- Gartner, 2021. Hype Cycle for Retail Technologies, 2021

3- U.S. Department of Commerce, 2022. Quarterly Retail E-commerce Sales

4- Postindustria, 2021. Top 10 AR Furniture Shopping Apps that Change the Future of Business

5- National Retail Federation, 2021. $428 billion merchandise returned in 2020

6- Deloitte, 2021. CFO Signals™: 3Q 2021

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s Research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

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Traditional guidance or upskilling usually requires a trained trainer, a trainee, some mix of resources like work instructions, parts manuals, or checklists, and a real-world or simulated task to perform. In this scenario, a skilled worker (the trained trainer) guides the trainee through the job until they have mastered the process and can work alone. This process is called on-the-job guidance, and while it has been effective in supporting workforce development for decades, it has always been challenging from a resource and scale perspective.

Over the past decade, however, organizations across industries have engaged in digital transformation, leveraging advances in technology to reimagine business processes to make them more effective and efficient. This is what Microsoft Dynamics 365 Guides is all about, including its application in training and development to empower employees with step-by-step holographic instructions right where the work happens. This article highlights three ways to use Dynamics 365 Guides to improve the employee experience.

1. Empower self-guided learning

One of the key benefits of utilizing mixed reality applications is that it frees the trainer from the trainee. For example, a trainer can develop a digital process guide that any number of trainees can then utilize without requiring the trainer to be physically present. This empowers workers to embark on self-guided learning by equipping them with task instructions, essential data, and model visualizations directly in the flow of work. The result is increased efficiency from a resource perspective and improved productivity, quality, and safety from the worker’s perspective.

The idea of self-guided learning is nothing new; in mixed reality, though, self-guided learning is dramatically improved by delivering information where and when it is needed in the training process. For example, in the following video, we see how Dynamics 365 Guides allows for self-guided learning that keeps workers in the flow of work by moving with them, directing attention to the next step, and providing the information needed every step of the way.

Learn more in our overview of Dynamics 365 Guides.

Similar scenarios unfold thousands of times per day in manufacturing plants around the world. From the machinist securing a part in a multi-axis lathe who needs to check a read-out on a gauge to the repair technician working on a new piece of equipment, when workers can always access a virtual library of parts manuals and assembly instructions wherever they are, they can stay in the flow of work longer. This is one reason that Forrester found that mixed reality improved field task efficiency by 40 percent and reduced rework by 7 percent, saving $13,680 annually per field task worker.¹

2. Embrace mixed reality

As shown in the video below, Dynamics 365 Guides works by overlaying 3D visualizations and holograms alongside connected work instructions and reference materials in a real-world environment, all without sacrificing autonomy or range of movement. Plus, Dynamics 365 Guides also allows anyone to create new guides with low-code/no-code authoring so that your organization can respond quickly and efficiently to new training needs. In this short video clip, you can see how authoring steps taken on a PC, automatically align to a hologram placed in the work environment.

3. Enable hands-free triggers

In addition to providing frontline workers with immersive instructions, Dynamics 365 Guides also allows action-activated triggers to mimic real-world actions. For example, HoloLens 2 can track worker hand movements and automate guidance based on where a worker’s hands are located in the process. This is demonstrated in the video below. When the worker completes a task, such as tightening a bolt or screw, the worker is automatically shown a holographic prompt directing them to the next step in the process. This helps build muscle memory and improves the learning process.

Not only do hands-free triggers keep workers in the flow of work longer, but they are also more accurate than asking a coworker what to do next, which may or may not yield the correct answer, and more efficient than referring to traditional work instructions, which breaks the concentration on the task at hand. Moreover, enabling hands-free triggers, either with hand tracking or voice activation, improves process safety, particularly in industries like manufacturing, where significant amounts of rotating machinery are found.

What’s next?

This article shows that embracing mixed reality, empowering self-guided learning, and enabling hands-free triggers are three ways to transform on-the-job guidance. We’ve also published videos that explore how intuitive placing and working with holograms can be, features for hands-free work, and a look at the level of detail you can accomplish with Dynamics 365 Guides. If you are ready to start empowering your frontline workers today, we invite you to get started with a free 60-day trial of Dynamics 365 Guides. Or to learn more, check out our learning path, Work with Dynamics 365 Guides.

¹ Forrester, 2021. The Total Economic Impact™ Of Mixed Reality Using Microsoft HoloLens 2.

The post Watch how to improve on-the-job guidance with mixed reality appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

Over the last 15 years, social media has grown rapidly, both in reach and in impact on our daily lives. Facebook reached one billion users worldwide in 2012, only eight years after launch, and has approximately 2.89 billion active users today. Instagram boasts nearly 140 million active users, while 100 million people enjoy TikTok.¹ Beyond their reach, users spend an exorbitant amount of time on social media, with 62 percent of users spending an hour or more on social media a day and 30 percent spending more than two hours.²

Whether engaging with influencers on live-streaming video platforms or viewing short-form videos on Tiktok, social media has revolutionized the way we connect with each other. They have also changed how we discover and engage with brands, unlocking new opportunities for businesses to engage with customers. And with the emergence of social commerce, they’re opening a new channel through which customers can buy products from retailers.

While the concept of linking to a product page within a social media post has been status quo for some time, consumers prefer a seamless experience that won’t disrupt their consumption. Enter social commerce, which can be thought of as the extension of the shopping experience to the realm of social media. With social commerce, users can see an item on a social media platform and purchase it without leaving the channel.

According to Statista, the value of social commerce sales worldwide in 2021 was an estimated $732 billion and is projected to grow to $2.9 trillion by 2026.³ The continued growth of social media and the coming rise of social commerce will allow companies to add new revenue streams by meeting their customers on the platforms they prefer. The opportunity is not, however, without challenges and brand leaders need to understand how the right technology solutions can help them on their social commerce journey.

Engagement through social media

Given the vast audiences that social media can reach, it makes sense that businesses first gravitated to social media primarily as a means of building awareness for their brand. Today, more and more brands are moving beyond awareness by embracing shoppable Facebook pages and Instagram posts, and the reason is clear: in 2021, 63 percent of social media users reported that posts by a brand or company were very/somewhat influential in their purchasing decisions, according to Sprout Social.⁴

In addition to making purchases through social media platforms, the forms of media that brands are using to engage consumers are expanding, as well. For example, live-streaming, which draws audiences by combining live entertainment with the ability to purchase directly in a platform, has taken off in China. Given the direct-to-consumer benefits, live-streaming will likely be a hit in other markets soon.

These trends point clearly to the need for brands to be able to offer content across multiple social media platforms and multiple media types to keep up with their customer’s buying preferences. The challenge for many organizations will be overcoming the constraints of their legacy commerce solutions to capitalize on this evolution.  

Headless commerce

As omnichannel retail took flight around 2010, retailers came to realize that the first-generation e-commerce platforms were not agile enough to keep pace with the evolution of shoppers’ needs. Whether in-store or online, today’s shoppers want consistent messaging, seamless and sensory experiences across devices, and personalized customer service. Plus, they want unprecedented levels of convenience—all points we’ve discussed in previous blog posts.

Now, with the rise of social commerce, retailers face an increased proliferation of customer touchpoints, such as offering the ability to purchase a product via an influencer’s TikTok video, through a shoppable post on Instagram, or in the virtual world presented in AR/VR. Each of these touchpoints can be thought of as a different “front-end” experience that “back-end” systems, such as content management systems (CMS) and traditional enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, must serve and connect to enable social commerce.

Delivering social commerce to multiple front-ends in this manner is challenging for organizations that are unable to leverage a single CMS or are still utilizing monolithic, content-led commerce architectures. Headless commerce solves these challenges by disconnecting the front-end experiences from the back-end systems that enable them. In this way, headless solutions give retailers the ability to provide features like platform-specific content and layout management, personalization, content testing, and analytics. Social commerce enables an organization to deploy content on multiple social media platforms (front-end) while still utilizing the same back-end systems to complete transactions. Not only does this simplify management by bringing all commerce-related activities into a single solution, but it also gives retailers the agility necessary to compete in a future of social commerce.

What’s next?

New social channels and customer touchpoints will continue to evolve and develop, and brands need new digital commerce approaches—such as headless commerce—to provide the agility required to adapt to a fast-moving marketplace.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Commerce is a modern, intelligent, and modular solution that can help organizations consistently deliver great customer experiences on any social channel or front-end application. This is because Dynamics 365 Commerce can utilize both headless and other modern commerce architectures to seamlessly connect enterprise systems, such as payment processing, content management, and omnichannel inventory. By connecting and unifying every facet of the customer journey, businesses are well-positioned to embrace social commerce experiences across established and emerging channels, giving them the ability to meet their customers where they are and purchase there too.

To see how Dynamics 365 Commerce can help your brand succeed in social commerce and beyond, we invite you to get started with Dynamics 365 Commerce free trial today.

Sources:

1- Statista, 2021. Most popular social networks worldwide as of October 2021.

2- GWI, 2021. USA Survey.

3- Statista, 2021. Social Commerce.

4- Sprout Social, 2021. The state of social media investment: Five key takeaways for European businesses.

The post Dynamics 365 powers social shopping needs with headless commerce appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

As digital transformation drives innovation and transforms the way we work, we see business operations and traditional internal processes being disrupted daily. To adapt and scale changes across their business, many organizations are overwhelmed and faced with digitizing thousands of manual checklists, paper forms, documents, and more. The good news is today’s Microsoft solutions make this transition easier than ever before. With Microsoft’s suite of low-code development solutions (e.g., Microsoft Power Platform, Power Automate, and AI Builder), employees of all skill levels can create and customize business applications and processes. By combining these solutions with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Guides, a mixed reality application that offers step-by-step, hands-free work instructions and collaboration, you can convert your existing 2D manuals into 3D holograms, rather than transferring manually. Once converted, organizations can use Dynamics 365 Guides to provide immersive, on-the-job guidance that will increase efficiency, increase knowledge retention, and enable your organization to adapt at the speed of change.

Better together: Dynamics 365 Guides, AI Builder, and Power Automate

With Dynamics 365 Guides, authoring instructions is as simple as creating a presentation in Microsoft PowerPoint. Using the Guides PC and HoloLens apps, you create and edit instructions by dragging and dropping 2D and 3D content into your real-world environment to show users how and where to complete tasks. However, converting an existing multi-page manual by copying the information from scratch makes the authoring process feel time-consuming and daunting. This is where Microsoft Power Platform AI Builder comes in. AI Builder empowers anyone to build, train, and publish AI models, enabling you to infuse AI into your regular processes. You can create and train a custom AI model to extract text information from a variety of paper manuals in minutes, or use one of the pre-built models.

Using Power Automate, you save the extracted information to Microsoft Dataverse (an enterprise-grade intelligent scalable data platform that powers business applications like Dynamics 365 Guides). By storing the data in a format readable by Dynamics 365 Guides, users can simply open the Dynamics 365 Guides PC and HoloLens apps and add 3D content on top of the text instructions extracted from existing manuals.

In this blog, we’ll focus on how to use the AI Builder form processing model to extract and convert information and create a guide. Every organization has work instructions that come in different formats, such as checklists for inspections, training documentation, and standard operating procedures. By using the form processing model, you can read and save information from existing documents such as images or PDF files.

When you automate this process, you save valuable time by reviewing, extracting, organizing, and saving the data automatically by using Power Automate and Power Apps.

Overall process

Creating a guide using a custom AI model and Power Automate requires three simple steps:

1. Train an AI model with AI Builder to extract text from a .PDF file or image.
2. Take extracted information from the AI model and create a guide using Power Automate.
3. Enhance the guide further and author in the Dynamics 365 Guides PC and HoloLens apps.

For a closer look at each step below, follow along with a team at Toyota Motors North America in this video, at the 2:40 min mark.

Step one: Train an AI model with AI Builder to extract text from a .PDF file or image

1. Create your AI model: Choose “form processing” (under the “Documents” area of the AI Builder homepage) and go through the step-by-step wizard.
2. Define the data you want to extract: Define the fields, tables, and checkboxes you want to teach your model to extract. See the create a form processing custom model documentation for more details.
3. Upload your documents: Upload at least five different versions of the same basic document. AI Builder also supports collections of documents that have different layouts. See the AI Builder form processing models blog for more details.
4. Select important areas, and then train your AI model: Teach your model areas it should learn about—and then train it. Training is an automatic process where AI Builder “teaches” your AI model to understand a specific instruction type, such as a PDF checklist.
5. Publish and use your new AI model: Now you can automate document processing in apps and flows.  

Step two: Take extracted information from the AI model and create a guide using Power Automate

1. Extract the data: Create a Power Automate flow to take the extracted information from AI Builder and create a guide with step-by-step instructions. You can do this in minutes and no coding skills are required.
2. Create a Power Automate flow and convert data into steps: Build each piece of data as a “step” for your instructions with easy-to-follow drag-and-drop functionalities. This is where you reference the Dynamics 365 Guides data in Microsoft Dataverse. By harnessing Dataverse, we can connect data so that your instructions are now editable from the Dynamics 365 Guides PC app.

Step three: Author in the Dynamics 365 Guides PC and HoloLens apps

1. Make edits in the PC and HoloLens apps: Once content for your guide is in the right spot, you can author in the Dynamics 365 Guides PC and HoloLens apps to make edits and changes.
2. Optimize for 3D experience: Customize the steps to better suit hands-free needs based on a 3D, mixed-reality experience. Add links, photos, reports, 3D models, and other resources.

Whether creating a single manual or hundreds, AI Builder and Dynamics 365 Guides can transform instructions and training, making your processes easier, smarter, and faster. Seamlessly capture, translate, and extract information to unlock a new way of working and save your teams hours of time.

”Customers have been able to save months of deployment time by using AI Builder and Guides, allowing them to quickly integrate mixed-reality work instructions into their daily workflows without any development expertise. They’re able to update content they already have into 3D holographic instructions for a variety of scenarios, including assembly, changeovers, training, and service and maintenance, resulting in improvements to safety, efficiency, and reduced onboarding time.”—Shirley Ho, Senior Designer, Dynamics 365 Guides.

Getting started

Ready to design a guide using AI Builder, Power Automate, and Dynamics 365 Guides today? Here’s how to get started.

• Power Apps: A Power Apps or Power Automate license is required to start using AI Builder. For more details about Power Apps and Power Automate licensing, see the licensing guide.
• Dynamics 365 Guides: Try the 60-day free trial of Dynamics 365 Guides. Learn about licensing requirements.
• AI Builder: Models in preview do not require an AI Builder trial or license nor consume credits. Anybody can test AI Builder and start a free trial today.

Other resources

AI Builder in Power Automate

• Learn more about AI Builder and get your questions answered using AI Builder documentation. Make sure to see these topics:
  • Form processing model overview
  • Object detection model overview
  • List of AI solutions

Dynamics 365 Guides

• Watch our Toyota North America customer video that showcases Dynamics 365 Guides and AI Builder in Power Automate.
• Read more about Dynamics 365 Guides capabilities and get your questions answered using our Dynamics 365 Guides documentation.
• Take the Work with Dynamics 365 Guides learning path.

The post Convert data into 3D assets using Dynamics 365 Guides, AI Builder, and Power Automate appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

Data is everywhere, data is decision making power

The emergence of data is changing the way organizations do business. From our mobile devices to our machinery, everyday activities and interactions create trillions of data points generated by inanimate objects. Unfortunately, data is often stored across disparate systems depriving organizations of access to valuable information and connected insights. To keep up with today’s fast-paced data hierarchy, organizations must rely on solutions that effectively integrate data to derive important business insights, empower frontline workers to make data-driven decisions, and streamline operational efficiency.

Break down information siloes with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Guides, HoloLens 2, and Power Apps

Infusing Power Apps with Dynamics 365 Guides and HoloLens 2 has enabled organizations to give their frontline workers step-by-step holographic instructions while also bringing critical, connected data into view. Using Power Apps, you can connect to your business data stored in on-premises data sources and rapidly build customizable workflows for your unique operational processes.

With Power Apps, you can embed your apps directly into Dynamics 365 Guides, displayed on HoloLens 2. Embedding Power Apps apps into Dynamics 365 Guides enables you to:

• Create and trigger automated workflows based on captured asset data to simplify business processes seamlessly.
• Develop issue reports, incorporated into your existing workflow within Dynamics 365 Guides.
• Report issues directly within the workflow in a non-disruptive and efficient way.
• Understand historical data and relevant insights.

An example of Issue Reporting integrated into Dynamics 365 Guides using Power Apps

Additionally, using Dynamics 365 Guides PC authoring, you can add a website link or directly link to Power Apps apps in your guides, making the opportunities endless for content linking and quick access to resources such as reference manuals, interactive quizzes, or parts re-ordering systems, or an app that provides the latest status of IoT sensors. This feature enables authors to create a seamless workflow for operators so that there is no need to switch from the workflow to access outside documentation as the information is displayed seamlessly in the line of sight.

It doesn’t end there. By integrating Power Apps with Dynamics 365 Remote Assist, you can ensure your operators are connected to apps when performing tasks on the go. Simply connect to Power Apps via your Microsoft Edge browser to access Remote Assist Helper to manage your tasks, apps, and documentation with a remote expert.

An example of adding in Website link using the Step Editor pane.

To view, edit, or delete the link, right-click the Website link button in the Step Editor pane and then select the appropriate command.

Auger Groupe Conseil uses Power Apps with Dynamics 365 Guides

Auger Groupe Conseil is a firm specializing in industrial process engineering, with a focus on helping organizations accomplish “Industry 4.0” procedural updates. On a recent client visit at Kruger Paper Inc., Auger Groupe Conseil recognized the opportunity to unify vast amounts of unused data stored across disparate sources with Power Apps with Dynamics 365 Guides.

Using the Power Apps connector in Dynamics 365 Guides, Auger Groupe Conseil was able to bring all of this unused data to their employees in real-time on the shop floor. With the Power Apps connector, the organization was able to take the Dynamics 365 Guides solution a step further by customizing workflows, submitting issue reports, and making optimal adjustments live in their real work environment. The customizable workflows let them create what they need within a workflow, for example, an alert or a report. Overall, this low-code, versatile solution has enabled their organization to effectively maximize their operations and employee performance.

“We realized that all these companies have an enormous amount of data sources and the best way to bring all this data to the employee is to use Power Apps in Guides. Power Apps allows you to customize any workflow.”— Alan Marchand, IT Director at Auger Groupe Conseil, in charge of solutions architecture.

Get started

• Want to learn more? Learn how Kruger boosts employee productivity in factories using HoloLens 2 and Dynamics 365. Watch the “How Kruger uses Dynamics 365 Guides and HoloLens 2 to transform their operations” video.
• Ready to empower your frontline employees? Read more about Dynamics 365 Guides capabilities and get your questions answered using our Dynamics 365 Guides documentation.
• Try the 30-day free trial of Dynamics 365 Guides.
• Take the Work with Dynamics 365 Guides learning path.

The post Power Apps and Dynamics 365 Guides brings data to frontline workers appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

“What kind of cool opportunities are there in the research and education space and how can we leverage that technology?” These were the types of questions that educators at Northeastern University asked themselves when looking for solutions to provide unique, immersive experiences for their students. Education and experiential learning have seen incredible value in the development of virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality technology and content, according to Statista.¹ Traditional, more passive learning methods are failing to meet the needs of modern education, and institutions like Northeastern University are rapidly exploring and adopting more innovative and impactful solutions.

Students need a tactile, active, and hands-on experience that helps them retain information longer and apply acquired knowledge in real-world situations, even while learning. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Guides and HoloLens 2 give professors and leaders in learning and development a game-changing approach to experiential and hands-on learning.

Move from traditional to experiential learning

The biotech department at Northeastern University knew it needed to expand its traditional learning model to provide students with more experiential learning opportunities. They discovered Microsoft’s mixed reality solutions and immediately saw the value of applying this technology to lectures, classroom training, and research.

The value of mixed reality became even more clear after the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown university facilities and sent students home. Northeastern University started using mixed reality as part of their pandemic response, working to ensure students didn’t miss out on their education even while at home. Using Dynamics 365 Guides and HoloLens 2 the students at Northeastern University received an immersive learning experience despite the challenges of the coronavirus lockdown.

“The HoloLens really emphasized the power of visual learning in a specific space, but not actually having to be there.”—Jared Auclair PhD, Director of Executive Training and Biotechnology Programs, Northeastern University

Reduce training time with Dynamics 365 Guides

Before Northeastern University introduced mixed reality to the training process, it took three hours for Dr. Auclair to teach a relatively simple technique inside the lab. Working closely with his students, Dr. Auclair often spent time in person to help them get it right. Now, using Dynamics 365 Guides, Northeastern University has cut training time by 83 percent. Students can now acquire the technique required in no more than 30 minutes and discover a new-found independence.

“We can get them into HoloLens 2, and they can go through a program by themselves being guided by the guides. It’s a beauty of it that I don’t have to be there. And then, we can bring them in the lab and ensure they’ve been trained properly—I think Dynamics 365 Guides has the potential to be a game-changer in the training realm of biotech.”—Jared Auclair PhD, Director of Executive Training and Biotechnology Programs, Northeastern University

Empower students to do more with mixed reality

In addition to reducing training time, mixed reality has freed up critical time for specialists who no longer need to be present during in-classroom training. They can spend this extra time giving feedback and preparing the student for more complex techniques. At Northeastern University, students using mixed reality can quickly apply their skills in the real world and appreciate the independence and flexibility this learning method provides, particularly during such an uncertain time.

“We’re excited about exploring the new possibilities of using this kind of technology for experiential learning in whatever kind of setting, given that this technology is now more widely available.”—Nick Wilson, Associate Director, Center for Advancing Teaching and Learning Through Research, Northeastern University

Get started with Dynamics 365 Guides

• Take the next step by trying a 30-day free trial of Dynamics 365 Guides.
• Read how Dynamics 365 Guides is transforming remote nursing education at University of Michigan.
• Learn how MSR and Sheba Medical Center meet urgent staffing demands with HoloLens 2 and Dynamics 365 Guides.
• Discover how to navigate the skills gap with Dynamics 365 Guides.
• See how companies across industries are getting the most out of mixed reality.

1-“XR/AR/VR/MR technology investment directions worldwide 2016-2019″, Lionel Sujay Vailshery, March 16, 2021, Statista.

The post Northeastern University uses Dynamics 365 Guides mixed reality to deliver experiential learning appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.